REVIEW ARTICLE

https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01135-2 OPEN

Translating citizen-generated air quality data into

evidence for shaping policy
Sachit Mahajan 1 ✉, Ming-Kuang Chung2, Jenny Martinez3, Yris Olaya3,
Dirk Helbing1,4 & Ling-Jyh Chen2
1234567890():,;

The practice of participatory sensing for environment monitoring has rapidly evolved over the
years. There has been a steady growth of citizen-based air quality monitoring projects that
aim to build partnerships, knowledge-sharing platforms, awareness, and ultimately resilience
to issues related to air quality. Whilst citizen science has reshaped air quality research by
bringing a fresh perspective on democratizing science for the public good, there is little
research about how citizen-generated data can be used for facilitating and improving
evidence-based policymaking. To address the problem in a structured manner, we examine
the existing literature related to citizen science, air quality, and policymaking to understand
the existing gaps and opportunities. That is followed by a review of major grassroots and
collaborative citizen science air quality monitoring initiatives in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin
America. We explore the range of citizen science methods and applications to understand
how they are creating opportunities for dialog between practitioners and policymakers, dis-
cuss the concerns about citizen-generated data, and see if the data is used for policy action.
Finally, we propose a methodology for integrating data-based evidence into shaping policy.
The methodology combines scientific evidence, participation, and deliberation to realize the
full potential of citizen science in air quality monitoring.

A
Introduction
ir pollution is a global threat that negatively impacts public health and environmental
sustainability (Brauer et al., 2016; Su et al., 2015). Many studies have associated parti-
culate matter (PM) with millions of deaths across the globe (Pope and Dockery, 2006;
Samet et al., 2000; WHO, 2014). According to a report by the World Health Organization
(WHO), air pollution annually causes more than 2 million deaths in Southeast Asia, around
300,000 in the Americas, and around 500,000 in Europe (Taghizadeh-Hesary and Taghizadeh-
Hesary, 2020). The effects are more clearly evidenced in urban areas, where people are exposed
to pollutants like PM and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Emissions from industries, vehicles, incin-
erators, power plants, and agricultural practices are contributing to dangerous levels of air
pollution.

1 Computational Social Science (COSS), ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. 2 Institute of Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan. 3 Decision

Sciences Group, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellín, Colombia. 4 Citizen Science Center Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
✉email: sachit.mahajan@gess.ethz.ch

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Given the serious nature of the problem, regulatory authorities
like Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA) and policymakers
in many countries have been responding appropriately by setting
up large air quality monitoring networks and policies to reduce
personal air pollution exposure (Arfire et al., 2016). These actions
are mainly focused on deploying air quality monitoring sensors,
acquiring data for policy formulation and implementation, and
promoting behavioral changes. Traditional methods of air quality
monitoring rely on fixed monitoring stations that are large and
expensive. These monitors produce accurate data but are crude in
terms of spatial and temporal resolution. Often cities with mil-
lions of people have only a few monitoring stations. This results
in an inaccurate and biased representation of a city’s air quality
that could potentially affect the policies that are made to combat
air pollution (Bales et al., 2012). To address this problem, Internet
of Things (IoT) and low-cost sensing solutions have been widely
used over the last few years for getting fine-grained air quality
data (Camprodon et al., 2019; Chen et al., 2017; Kamel Boulos
et al., 2011; S. Mahajan, 2018; Perera et al., 2014). Actions are
aimed at creating campaigns where citizens are actively involved
in monitoring air quality using low-cost sensors. Among all the
initiatives, Citizen Science (CS) and participatory sensing strate-
gies are considered promising approaches for generating new
knowledge and information by providing greater geographical
coverage at a reduced cost (Oltra et al., 2017). CS broadly refers to
the practice where scientists and citizens work together to address
a pressing issue by generating new knowledge and information
(Bonney et al., 2009; Hecker et al., 2018). Within the air quality
monitoring paradigm, CS projects are mainly focused on air
quality monitoring using low-cost sensors. The data are used to
complement the official monitoring frameworks, increasing spa-
tial and temporal density (Schaefer et al., 2020).
Over the years, CS has evolved and is now recognized as a
catalyst for evoking behavioral change by facilitating cooperation
and coordination among multiple stakeholders (Sachit Mahajan
et al., 2021; Van Brussel and Huyse, 2019). There has been sig-
nificant growth in the number of CS air quality projects over the
past few years. This growth can be attributed to: (i) conducting
socially relevant research (Ballard et al., 2017), (ii) developing
large datasets for better insights (Conrad and Hilchey, 2011), (iii)
advancements in technology (Chen et al., 2017), and (iv) demo-
cratization of science (Sachit Mahajan et al., 2021; Pritchard and
Gabrys, 2016). Instead of following a top-down approach for
problem-solving, many CS projects have been following a
bottom-up approach or a hybrid method for problem-solving
(Jiang et al., 2018; Paul et al., 2018). This facilitates grassroots
Fig. 1 Word dynamics graph. The graph shows eight most frequent keywords and their cumulative occurrence over time.
2 HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES COMMUNICATIONS | (2022)9:122 | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01135-2
innovation and opens up possibilities for co-creating solutions
that are responsive to local community interests (Helbing et al.,
2021). The steady growth in the application of CS to monitor air
quality has empowered citizens to contribute to air quality
monitoring and understand the link between air pollution and
health (Sachit Mahajan et al., 2020; Payne-Sturges et al., 2015).
These practices are already bridging the gap between scientists
and community members by creating a more inclusive and col-
laborative environment and strengthening the
science–policy–society interface. Such collaborative environments
can potentially open up spaces that promote interactions among
key stakeholders, knowledge co-production, and sharing (Moli-
nengo et al., 2021). It has also been found in many policy
documents that CS can improve policy decision-making (Schade
et al., 2021). However, these documents also discuss difficulties in
transferring CS results in policy implementation often due to a
lack of alignment between CS and policy agendas (Hecker et al.,
2019). Furthermore, a major barrier is the translation of research
output into useful information for decision-makers. Connelly
et al. (2021) have already discussed how rethinking the concept of
research translation can help address knowledge gaps at the
science–policy interface. The question remains as to how the
citizen-generated data can be used as evidence for shaping policy,
or whether it should only be considered as a science tool. To
understand how the existing literature links topics like air pol-
lution, CS, and policymaking, we performed the bibliometric
mapping of the current state of literature.
Bibliometric analysis. Bibliometric analysis is an efficient tool to
map the literature in any domain of scientific knowledge. It looks
into the existing literature and reveals the trends, networks, and
also scientific gaps through text analysis (Zhang et al., 2019). To
narrow down our search and do a more structural literature
analysis, we used the keyword search query in the Web of Sci-
ence1 database to look for relevant literature. The search2 was
performed using the keywords “Citizen Science” AND “Air*”
AND “Policy*”. The search resulted in 72 documents that
included articles, review articles, proceeding papers, book chap-
ters, and editorials. We followed a two-step approach to analyze3
the search results. First, we extracted frequently used keywords
within the literature to understand word dynamics. It can be
observed in Fig. 1 that “Air Quality” and “Air Pollution” are the
two most frequently used keywords and their occurrence has
gradually increased over the years. An interesting observation is
related to the keyword “Citizen Science”. It was only around the
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Fig. 2 Network visualization of frequently occurring terms. The figure
shows three main clusters. Terms within the same cluster tend to be closely
related to each other.
year 2015/2016 that it started showing an upward trend. This
implies that the research discussing air quality and CS has quickly
grown over the past 6 years. The keyword “Policy Makers” also
appears in the literature but it has not been discussed as fre-
quently as other terms like “Air Quality” and “Citizen Science”.
This implies that although air quality and CS research have grown
over the years, the research bridging it with policymaking is still
not widely explored.
The second step of the analysis used the co-occurrence method
to find keywords that are discussed more frequently together and
create a keyword co-occurrence network graph. Figure 2 shows
the network graph in which highly occurring terms are the nodes
and each node has at least two edges. Community detection
within the network graph was performed using the Louvain
method of community detection (Lu et al., 2015). It can be
observed from Fig. 2 that there are three main clusters. Terms
within the clusters tend to be closely related to each other.
One of the clusters shows strong links between health, science,
policy, and air pollution, implying research focused on health
impacts of air pollution and policies to mitigate the pollution
exposure. The second cluster shows strong links between
environmental monitoring, citizen data, and quality, implying
that the research is mainly focusing on citizen participation in
environmental monitoring, data sharing, and knowledge genera-
tion. There is another small cluster that looks into topics like
public support, information management, among others. It can
be observed from the network graph that there is a clear gap when
it comes to research linking air pollution, policy, community
engagement, and citizen-generated data. This reinforces the
relevance of our study, which aims to fill the knowledge gap by
exploring how CS air quality initiatives can connect researchers,
citizen scientists, and decision-makers for knowledge sharing and
data sharing, as well as shaping political decision making.
Motivation. Most air quality CS studies have objectives of sci-
entific design, data collection, inclusion, collaboration, and
knowledge sharing (English et al., 2018; Sachit Mahajan et al.,
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REVIEW ARTICLE
2020). However, it is imperative to understand how the data and
results could be fed into policy debates (Oliver and Boaz, 2019;
Van Brussel and Huyse, 2019). As discussed by Lepenies and
Zakari (2021), there is a very limited meaningful connection
between CS initiatives and official air quality policy formulation.
Currently, solutions like citizen councils, joint projects promoting
policy–citizen partnerships are underdeveloped and could be
explored to promote meaningful participation of people in the
policy-advisory process. This would ensure that the citizens are
not merely data producers, but are directly contributing to better
policies that would eventually affect them positively. As part of
this paper, we examine how CS projects can foster a meaningful
interplay between science, policy, and society, as well as how
citizen-generated data can create new forms of public participa-
tion in decision-making. This paper also aims at steering the
discussion on how inclusive and interpretable technology can
enhance citizen participation, improve data quality and promote
collective intelligence. We review current CS practices for air
quality monitoring across Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin
America to comprehend the role of citizen-generated data in the
larger landscape of scientific advice considered for decision
making. The review explores how different projects across the
regions co-create knowledge and evidence through a
science–policy–society interface. We propose an integrated pro-
cess for evidence production and use, that could be embedded
within citizen sensing air quality monitoring initiatives. We
expect that such a process will help realize the full potential of CS,
thereby enabling better integration of citizen-generated data in
shaping policies.
The promises of citizen sensing in air quality monitoring
Over the years, the concept of “citizen sensing” has gained a lot of
attention. Citizen sensing is the practice of environmental mon-
itoring using low-cost sensors and do-it-yourself (DIY) technol-
ogies (Pritchard and Gabrys, 2016). DIY sensing practices enable
citizens to develop and use air quality monitoring tools and raise
awareness for environmental or health issues (e.g., based on
indoor air quality measurements). Recent activities also strive for
new methods of social engagement and capacity building
(Balestrini et al., 2021). As discussed by Schade et al. (2021), CS
creates data that support setting policy goals and taking legal
actions, while allowing citizens to participate in policymaking.
The current discourse of citizen sensing in air quality monitoring
highlights some major positive impacts related to participation
and co-creation, diversity and openness, creating and using evi-
dence, and citizen sensing at the Science–Policy–Society Interface.
However, moving from DIY to do-it-together (DIT) poses addi-
tional challenges regarding the organization, coordination, and
integration of social activities (Sachit Mahajan et al., 2021) (see
also Box 1).
Participation and co-creation. The practice of participatory
sensing in CS is often considered to be an effective strategy to
promote community engagement in scientific processes. It not
only contributes to scientific knowledge generation but also
addresses some major societal issues (D’Hondt et al., 2013). Air
quality has been a topic of concern in many developing and
underdeveloped countries. Not only does it increase a country’s
disease burden but leads to economic costs. In the past, govern-
ments have implemented policies to combat air pollution, but
their success and efficacy have been limited due to their top-down
approach and lack of collaboration and coordination across key
stakeholders (Holland, 1995). CS presents an opportunity to
bridge the gap between key stakeholders by proposing a metho-
dology that promotes the participation of citizens in monitoring
3
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Box 1 | Options of CS initiatives to become part of the policy process

CS initiatives have different possibilities to gain political impact and momentum, including the following:
(1) Take evidence-based legal action, as some organizations aiming to protect the environment have done.
(2) Engage in joint projects with policy agencies or authorities, by forming public–civilian partnerships (rather than public–private partnerships, which
form alliances of government and business). Note that public–private–civilian partnerships are conceivable as well.
(3) Form or interact with citizen councils, which are increasingly consulted by parliaments and other political institutions to address complex issues
concerning civil society.
(4) Build and use platforms promoting collective intelligence, as some digital democracy initiatives have suggested and done.
The following sections of this paper will mainly focus on option (2).

their environment using open-source digital solutions. (Com-
modore et al., 2017). The key idea is to create an environment in
which citizens can measure, analyze and understand patterns in
the air quality (Goldman et al., 2009). Co-creation on the other
hand promotes people-centered innovation and needs the full
involvement of citizen scientists in the conduct and governance of
CS projects (Froeling et al., 2021). Implementing the principles of
co-creation in participatory research accommodates and facil-
itates the engagement and involvement of multiple stakeholders
in all phases of the research process. Citizens and researchers
work together in defining the key research questions related to air
quality and co-create solutions that have a significant societal
impact (Gabrys et al., 2016; Hecker et al., 2018; Sachit Mahajan
et al., 2021). Co-creation promotes an open and creative process
that allows for meaningful interactions and better utilization of
products and resources (Greenhalgh et al., 2016; Ind and Coates,
2013).
Despite these benefits, combining participatory sensing with
co-creation comes with some complex challenges. While such co-
creation principles promote a decentralized approach that
distributes power equally to all stakeholders, at the same time it
can lead to uncertainties due to the lack of predetermined data
collection and analysis plans (van Dijk-de Vries et al., 2020).
Successful co-creation is, therefore, a complex combination of
factors, such as communication, outreach, inclusive environ-
ments, and deliberative consultation. It has been observed that
several community-led air quality monitoring projects (Campro-
don et al., 2019; Gabrys et al., 2016; Gutiérrez et al., 2017; Sachit
Mahajan et al., 2021) have successfully implemented the
principles of co-creation thereby generating valuable societal
and scientific impact. These studies highlight how citizens can
proactively get involved in the co-creation of scientific knowledge.
Diversity and openness. CS programs across different disciplines
have enjoyed huge growth over the past few years as they can
provide benefits to the participants as well as their communities
(Davies et al., 2011). One of the widely discussed topics within
these CS programs is understanding whether the benefits are
equally accessible to all sections of society or limited to the par-
ticipant group (Guerrini et al., 2021). However, we want to point
out that sometimes the CS study design is affected by the funding
body’s requirements, the deliverables, and the timeline. This can
lead to issues like working with predetermined citizen groups that
benefit the research project and deliverables but do not focus on
complete demographic and geographic representation. We call
this type of participation “cosmetic participation”, where the
benefits are limited due to underrepresentation of the commu-
nity. Not only does this exacerbate inequalities, but also widens
the gap between privileged and underprivileged sections of the
community.
To approach CS with an environmental justice lens, it is
important to recognize that certain sections of the community are
more severely impacted by environmental degradation than
others. While designing participatory sensing studies, it is
imperative to create an inclusive environment that promotes
representation from all sections of the society irrespective of their
social status, gender, religious beliefs, literacy level, or age. As
shown in the case of the AirBox project in Taiwan (Sachit
Mahajan et al., 2021), researchers and community members
worked together to create a nationwide air quality monitoring
system that included everyone, from researchers to citizens, and
from school students to decision-makers. The result was a
successful citizen sensing initiative that helped in knowledge
sharing, capacity building, and instilling change at the grassroots
level. Similarly, the Citizen Sense (Gabrys et al., 2016) project in
the UK worked with communities from Southeast London which
is one of the highly polluted regions of London. The research
team worked together with the community members, local
councils, schools, museums, and local businesses to facilitate and
organize new ways of environmental engagement. There are
several other citizen-sensing initiatives like D-NOSES (Arias
et al., 2018) that monitor odor pollution and follow an inclusive
engagement strategy by bringing together people who share a
common issue of odor pollution in their communities. Looking at
the engagement models of all these projects, a key take-away
message is to ensure that the engagement plan is defined from the
outset of a CS project. Citizen sensing projects should acknowl-
edge the concerns of affected communities while shaping their
research questions. The engagement should not be limited to the
start of the project, but it should be maintained continuously
from the initiation of the project to its completion.
Creating and using evidence. The topic of citizen-generated data
has been a highly contested and complex arena. Fritz et al. (2019)
have already discussed how such data can be an important source
of information for policymaking. There are several other benefits
like an increase in the number of datasets for supporting data-
informed decision-making as well as an increase in citizen
engagement and interest in policy (Schade et al., 2021). However,
there are many challenges related to data quality that exist at
multiple levels. It has been often observed that the data require-
ments of CS projects don’t always match the requirements of
policymakers due to very specific project goals (Balázs et al.,
2021). Citizen-generated data is often questioned and challenged
by scientists and policymakers (Kosmala et al., 2016). CS projects
sometimes follow complicated data collection protocols. The
complication comes due to the nature of data and the technical
knowledge that is needed to use data collection devices or
instruments. Such complicated protocols can sometimes have a
negative impact as the participants lose motivation and the sense
of fun while doing data collection (Hochachka et al., 2012). Using
black-box technologies and algorithms also add to these chal-
lenges. One way to address such challenges would be to use open-
source tools and technologies (Sachit Mahajan and Martinez,

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2020; Silva, 2013) that are well documented and easy to under-
stand. Another strategy is to use more intuitive data collection
practices that are engaging and compatible with the skills of the
citizen scientist.
Different stakeholders have different ways of defining data
quality. When it comes to air quality data, a lot of focus has been
on quality assurance and quality control techniques. Official
guidelines are there to make sure that the data generated is
meaningful and is obtained by using the standard scientific
methods (von Lehmden and Nelson, 1977). To further build trust
between the regulatory monitoring bodies and citizen scientists, a
lot of CS projects are following a three-way approach to address
the issues of data quality and reliability. This includes sensor
colocation to understand inter-unit variability, sensor colocation
with reference instruments to perform calibration (Sachit
Mahajan and Kumar, 2020; Zimmerman et al., 2018), and open
data repositories to reuse the data and reproduce the results
(Chen et al., 2017; Luftdaten, 2021). While participatory sensing
has become a valuable source of data and information for citizens,
researchers, and policymakers, the adoption of actual citizen-
generated data in policy development is still slow. As argued by
Veiga et al. (2017), a data user’s perspective is important when
discussing data quality and fitness for use. To increase the value
of citizen-generated data and use it formally as evidence for
shaping policy, it is important that all stakeholders co-develop the
research agendas, the data quality standards, and clearly outline
how the data would feed into the decision-making process. This
will not only provide clarity to the citizen scientists about how
their data would be used but also help researchers in creating
tangible research impact.
Citizen sensing at science–policy–society interface. The notion
of a science–policy interface that engages only experts and pol-
icymakers has become outdated (Liberatore, 2001). To solve
complex challenges like climate change, air pollution, etc., the
focus has shifted towards creating interactions between science
and society to maintain a balance between scientific rigor, societal
relevance, and political legitimacy. The official experts are no
longer the only knowledge holders, but the social actors like
community members, environment enthusiasts, citizen scientists,
etc., are also actively participating in knowledge production and
sharing. It has been observed that CS projects can produce rele-
vant results; improve knowledge exchange between scientists,
citizens, and policymakers, and have a positive impact on the
science–policy–society interface (Kenens et al., 2020; Sachit
Mahajan et al., 2021; Van Brussel and Huyse, 2019). As discussed
in the OECD handbook (Gramberger, 2001), strengthening the
government–citizen relationships can improve the quality of
policies, promote transparency and accountability, and
strengthen public trust in government. Several initiatives have
been started by governments around the world to promote citizen
participation in the policy process, for example, VTaiwan, which
is an online–offline platform bringing multiple stakeholders
together and helping policymakers make decisions with a greater
degree of legitimacy (Schubach, 2018). The Government of the
Netherlands4 is also using a variety of forums to promote citizen
engagement and find new ways for citizens and decision-makers
to work together.
Despite these developments, the role of the wider public in
participation and deliberation on key policies related to air quality
has been limited.
Insights from geographical perspectives
Here, we discuss some of the major CS air quality monitoring
projects across different regions to get insights into how these
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projects engage citizens, translate data into evidence, and create
opportunities for dialog with decision-makers.
The search criteria for selecting the projects were based on the
key concepts mentioned in the section “The promises of citizen
sensing in air quality monitoring”. We looked for the projects that
followed a clear methodology for participation and co-creation,
facilitated engagement and knowledge exchange, and highlighted
the outcome of CS initiatives. In addition to studying the projects
that appeared in research articles, we also searched blogs, forums,
and websites for relevant and well-documented projects. The
search resulted in 25 projects across different geographical loca-
tions that provided clear information about organization, meth-
odology, and outputs. Based on the geographic location of the
projects, we examined how they are formulated, how they are
implemented, and what the outcome is.
Asia. Table 1 summarizes some key citizen-based air quality
monitoring initiatives across Asia. Asian countries, especially East
Asian countries like Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan, have wit-
nessed the establishment of large-scale volunteer-based environ-
mental sensing networks. One of those initiatives called the
Location Aware Sensing System (LASS) in Taiwan has success-
fully mobilized the volunteer community in monitoring air
quality across Taiwan using AirBox devices (Chen et al., 2017).
LASS is promoting civic tech through a low-cost, bottom-up
process that allows the public to create a comprehensive envir-
onmental sensing network system. At present, LASS has deployed
more than 12,000 AirBox devices in Taiwan and the data is used
for creating tools for digital assistance (Liou et al., 2020; Sachit
Mahajan et al., 2018) and complementing the monitoring net-
work of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The project
has significantly contributed towards promoting air pollution
awareness, as well as urging citizens to actively monitor the
government’s air quality policies. AirBox has been recognized as a
valuable smart city project and has also supported the govern-
ment to develop the ‘Civil IoT’ initiative to develop and enhance
the IoT ecosystem. AirBox project uses several co-creation
activities like workshops, citizen forums, developer conferences,
etc., to co-create monitoring scenarios and improve sensor design
(Sachit Mahajan et al., 2021). Motivated by the effectiveness of
Taiwan’s AirBox program on environmental education and
monitoring, South Korea’s Gyeongsangnamdo Office of Educa-
tion introduced AirBox in 2017 (Lee, 2019). The data has been
widely used for creating awareness applications. A detailed plan
put forth by the Gyeongsangnamdo Office of Education is
focusing on “From local policy, change national policy”. In Japan,
Safecast is promoting participatory sensing and open information
by supporting independent third-party monitoring (Brown et al.,
2016). Safecast has mainly contributed to radiation monitoring in
Japan, but recently they have developed AirNote sensors to
monitor air quality. Safecast regularly collaborates informally
with local and regional institutions in Japan and across the world
and supports agenda-setting for international action. Data pro-
vided by Safecast has been recognized by policymakers at multiple
levels, thus facilitating dialog between citizen scientists,
researchers, and decision-makers (Brown et al., 2016). India,
Pakistan, and Thailand are some of the most polluted countries,
not only in Asia but in the entire world (Asia, 2021). Lack of
government infrastructure and systems to monitor air quality has
led to the deterioration of the air quality standards. There have
been a limited number of citizen sensing initiatives that are trying
to promote civic tech. In Thailand, the DustBoy (Supasri and
Sampattagul, 2019) team is working with the local communities
and councils to create monitoring networks to create awareness
among the people. They use several co-creation activities like
5
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Table 1 Summary of key citizen-based air quality monitoring projects in Asia.

Project Aim of the project Location Initiators Community tasks Approach Science–policy–society
to data interface
AirBox (Chen To crowdsource air Taiwan Academia, Monitoring site Open data Inspiring the local
et al., 2017) quality data for maker groups, selection, sensor policy to create government to develop
promoting behavioral local installation, monitoring more policies for creating IoT air
change and government pollution episodes democratic pollution monitoring
improving digital solutions. networks.
environmental Data is validated Assisting in the
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governance. by comparing it implementation of smart

with data from city policies.
EPA monitors.
DustBoy To expand the air Thailand Academia, Crowdsourcing data Data streams Pressurizing the
(Supasri and quality monitoring citizens, non- are validated government to create
Sampattagul, network in Thailand. profit using a action plans to reduce air
2019) organizations, data model. pollution.
local Data is used to Initiating policy discussions.
government create early
warning
systems with
the potential to
change policies
related to air
quality.
AirBox South To develop a South Korea Local Sensor installation, Validated data is Complementing
Korea (Lee, crowdsourcing government, monitoring air used for raising environmental education in
2019) system that provides researchers, and pollution incidents awareness and schools.
citizens with citizens creating
environmental data education
and enriches air programs.
quality governance.
Respirer Living To understand the India A startup Sensor installation at Sensor data is Helping bridge the
Sciences use of air quality company, pollution hotspots scientifically information gap.
(Science, sensing solutions for academia, and evaluated with Data is used to support
2020) policy and non-profit reference policy discussions.
government use. organization instruments.
PakAirQuality To raise Pakistan Citizens, non- Sensor installation, Data is mainly Promoting environmental
(Shi et al., environmental profit crowdsourcing data used for raising awareness by collaborating
2020) awareness and organization, a awareness with city councils
promote behavioral startup company about air and NGOs.
change. pollution.
Safecast To develop a CS- Japan, with Non-profit Crowdsourcing air Portals allowing Advocating for data
(Safecast, based air quality limited organizations, quality data access to open transparency and ‘pro data’

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2021) monitoring presence in citizens, start-up data without policies.
framework that other parts of company licensing Safecast data has been
fosters open the world restrictions. recognized by policymakers
processes of research at multiple levels.
co-creation and
environmental action.
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citizen workshops and online forums to co-create sensor connect the citizen-generated data to evidence for environmental
deployment scenarios. The sensor data has been used to initiate a justice, social innovation, and decision making. Although the
dialog with the decision-makers regarding air pollution mon- current CS initiatives are already reinforcing environmental
itoring infrastructure. Research groups and non-profit organiza- governance, there is still a lack of infrastructure for engagement
tions are collaborating to address the air pollution problem in that allows formal institutions to interact with CS discourses and
India. Respirer Living Sciences (Science, 2020) has been deploying data. Based on a report (Association, 2016) that looked into top
Atmos sensors to monitor air pollution and other environmental barriers to CS in Africa, limited access to relevant technology and
parameters in twenty cities in India. The involvement of citizens lack of appreciation from policymakers are some of the key
in this project is limited as compared to other projects in other barriers to CS. To strengthen CS in Africa, it is vital to improve
Asian countries, but it has the potential to become a large-scale the technology used in CS projects in terms of relevance and
movement where citizens would have an important part to play. accessibility and to raise awareness and understanding of CS
In Pakistan, some local organizations have been using a com- among policymakers.
mercial product called AirVisual (Shi et al., 2020) to raise citizen
awareness of actual air pollution in the places they work and live,
Europe. Over the past few years, citizen-based air quality mon-
and thus contribute to a better air quality index (AQI) and
itoring projects have increased in Europe. Driven by the sense of
promote positive changes in behavior. Although such practices
responsibility and awareness, community groups have joined
are promoting change and awareness, the change achieved on the
hands with maker groups, research institutes, and other key
ground is very limited. Relying on commercial sensors brings
stakeholders to monitor air quality and contribute to knowledge
more challenges related to data access and transparency, and
generation and sharing. Table 3 summarizes some of the key
therefore limits the engagement potential. Other reasons for
citizen-based air quality monitoring initiatives across Europe.
limited impact could be technology-related barriers that hinder
Most of the initiatives follow a collaborative approach that
the engagement and motivation of citizens to participate in the
mobilizes grassroots and facilitates key stakeholder interaction to
CS project (Asingizwe et al., 2020). Such issues may discourage
find efficient and sustainable environmental monitoring solutions
citizens from participating and reduce the impact of the CS
(Bales et al., 2012; Kosmidis et al., 2018). The CS approach fol-
project as a whole.
lowed in the majority of studies (Brussels, 2021; Camprodon
Despite all these initiatives, the application of citizen-generated
et al., 2019; Sachit Mahajan et al., 2021; Van Oudheusden and
data to policymaking has been limited. Taiwan and Japan have
Abe, 2021) adhere to good scientific standards, data accessibility,
made some progress by using data generated by grassroots
and quality assurance. The crowdsourced data is used to create
movements and traditional data for policy discussions, but there
large air quality datasets and applications that complement the
is still a lack of proper methodology to translate the data into
official air quality monitoring systems as well as stimulate
information that can be used by policymakers for decision
environmental awareness and behavioral change. Projects like
making.
AirKit (Sachit Mahajan et al., 2021) have emphasized how the
social aspects of IoT-based air quality monitoring can be a crucial
component of technological innovation. It allows the citizens to
Africa. CS practices in air quality monitoring in African countries
use data stories for communicating data and proposing air quality
are relatively new but they are already encouraging community
interventions. A narrative approach of storytelling is often used to
engagement for addressing societal challenges. Air pollution is a
integrate sensor data with local knowledge to increase the impact.
major area of concern for researchers and policymakers and is
Some other community-driven programs like DataONE
taking a serious toll on human health and the economy in many
(DataOne, 2021) have been instrumental in providing access to
countries in Africa. This can be attributed to an increase in
the earth and environmental data. The initiative has special
industrial activities, environmental factors like dust storms, and
interest groups that focus on CS and policy.
the overuse of wood for cooking purposes. Based on a report (Yiu,
Different projects across Europe have used a variety of co-
2019), only 7 out of 54 African countries have a real-time air
creation activities. For example, hackAir project used workshops
quality monitoring framework. To improve the air quality
to collaborate with the intended users to co-create different
monitoring infrastructures and raise awareness, many non-profit
components of the digital platform. Similarly, AirKit project used
organizations, citizens, and research groups are working together.
knowledge co-creation activities like community walks to find
Table 2 summarises some of the citizen-based air quality mon-
pollution hotspots as well as co-design pollution monitoring
itoring initiatives across Africa. In Nairobi, Open Seneca
scenarios.
(OpenSeneca, 2019) is working with maker groups, university
To understand the policy impact, we looked at the potential
students, and residents to monitor transport-related air pollution.
scenarios in which the crowdsourced data would contribute to
It regularly collaborates with the maker community to co-create
policy debate. We found that there was a gap between the
research design and get feedback and inputs regarding the sensor
intended policy contributions and the realized ones. In most of
design. The data is used to raise awareness and influence urban
the cases, there was a provision for communicating data to the
planning and legislation. Grassroots initiatives like OpenAQ
decision-makers in form of a report, publication, etc. However,
(OpenAQ, 2021), sensors.Africa (Sensors.Africa, 2021) and Open
only in a few cases, like the Curious Noses (CurieuzeNeuzen,
Cities Lab (OCL, 2019) are operating in different regions across
2018) project in Belgium, the data was used for shaping policy.
the African continent to address air pollution at neighborhood
The project advocated for adding the issue of air pollution to the
levels and within marginalized communities. These projects
policy agenda and used the citizen data to highlight the
involve local communities by organizing workshops that promote
exceedance of acceptable air quality standards. The 2030 Flemish
knowledge co-creation and sharing. The primary focus of these
Air Policy Plan5 recognizes the exceedance of air quality
initiatives is knowledge sharing with multiple stakeholders and
standards.
creating air quality datasets for awareness purposes. These pro-
jects are also advocating the creation of citizen sensing networks
to supplement regulatory monitoring systems and assist in find- Latin America. Poor air quality is one of the major environ-
ing democratic solutions to combat environmental injustice. With mental risks for health in Latin America (Apte et al., 2015; Bell
growing CS initiatives across Africa, there is a potential to et al., 2006) which affects the most vulnerable population as

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Table 2 Summary of key citizen-based air quality monitoring projects in Africa.

Project Aim of the project Location Initiators Community tasks Approach to data Science–policy–society
interface
Open-Seneca To empower Kenya Academia, Crowdsourcing air Validated data is Educating citizens to build
(OpenSeneca, citizens with air research quality data used to promote air pollution sensors for
2019) pollution data to institutes, behavioral change monitoring transport-
raise awareness, maker groups, and inform related pollution.
promote behavioral non-profit decision-makers Advocating for better
change, and inform organizations about air pollution urban planning and
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policymakers on issues. legislation.

environmental
issues.
Open Cities Lab To address the air South Africa Non-profit Crowdsourcing and Data is used to Facilitating multi-
(OCL, 2019) pollution issue organization interpreting data understand air stakeholder interaction
within marginalized quality challenges in and discussion on
communities. poor hyperlocal air pollution
residential areas. issues.
sensorsAfrica To work with Kenya, Nigeria, Civic Crowdsourcing air Data is used to Facilitating interaction
(Sensors.Africa, neighborhood South Africa, technology quality data using create responsive between the community,
2021) communities to Tanzania initiative, stationary sensors locally driven local policymakers, and
monitor air community strategies. researchers.
pollution. members Advocating for action
against environmental
injustice.
OpenAQ To empower Angola, A non-profit Crowdsourcing air Open data platform Bridging the gap between
(OpenAQ, 2021) communities Ethiopia, South organization, quality data to share data with science and policy.
around the world Africa, Kenya, citizens multiple Advocating for open data
to clean their air by Nigeria, Ghana stakeholders. to fight air inequality.
harmonizing,
sharing, and using
open air
quality data.
GHAir (Sewor To bridge air Ghana Researchers, Crowdsourcing air Data is used to Opening up a dialog
et al., 2021) pollution data gaps community quality data provide real-time air between citizens,
in Ghana. members quality information researchers, and decision-
to promote makers.
behavioral change. Influencing air pollution
control policies.

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 Table 3 Summary of key citizen-based air quality monitoring projects in Europe.

Project Aim of the project Location Initiators Community Tasks Approach to Data Science-Policy-
Society Interface
CitiSense (Kobernus To develop Citizens’ Multiple Academia, Crowdsourcing air Data is used for Supporting
et al., 2015) Observatories that European cities research institutes quality data, applications that communities and
focus on the contributing with empower citizens influencing policy
empowerment of their subjective to contribute to priorities.
citizens to influence perception of air environmental Understanding
their community policy quality and other governance, the local policy
and decision-making. personal facilitating context,
observations communication possibility for
between change, and
communities and potential
policymakers. barriers to it.
hackAIR (Kosmidis To develop open Multiple Research Crowdsourcing air Data validation Strengthening
et al., 2018) platforms for enabling European cities institutes, public quality data, co- with official citizens’ voices
citizens to monitor air health creation of networks. and bridging the
quality. organizations monitoring scenarios Open data platform gap between
to share data with citizens,
multiple scientists, and
stakeholders. decision-makers.
CuriousNoses To raise environmental Belgium Academia, Crowdsourcing air Citizens collect the Multiple
(CurieuzeNeuzen, awareness and citizens, local quality data data which is stakeholder
2018) promote behavior governing bodies, validated by collaboration to
change. designers experts. create policy-
relevant data.
Advocating for
putting the topic
of air quality on
the national
political agenda.
Innovation Program To develop a Netherlands Research institute Crowdsourcing air Crowdsourced data Supporting
for Environmental crowdsourcing system quality data is used for knowledge co-

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Monitoring that provides developing creation and
(Wesseling et al., communities with modeling and sharing by the
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2019) detailed environmental assimilation development of

data, enriching the techniques for sensor data
Dutch environmental using uncertain portal.
monitoring network. sensor data into air Facilitating
pollution models. discussions about
citizen
involvement and
sensor data
quality.
Smart Citizen Kit To develop a Multiple Academia, Crowdsourcing air Data is integrated Advocating for
(Camprodon et al., crowdsensing system European cities research quality data with open-source community
2019) to generate real-time institutes, tools for engagement and
data and awareness maker groups knowledge sharing co-creation for
about pollution in and fostering initiating policy

9
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Table 3 (continued)
Project Aim of the project Location Initiators Community Tasks Approach to Data Science-Policy-
Society Interface
urban areas and citizen engagement change from the
empower communities through bottom-up.
to seek solutions. participatory data
collection, analysis,
and action.
InfluenceAir To build a Brussels Citizen groups Measurement and Variation and Creating citizen-
(Brussels, 2021) comprehensive sensor mapping of local validation test driven air quality
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network to raise pollution levels performed for data. monitoring

awareness about air Data is mainly used sensor networks.
quality and its health for raising Bridging the gap
effects. awareness, unsure between science
about use for and society.
scientific research.
Luftdaten To promote Multiple Volunteer urban Building sensors, Open data to Initiating multi-
(Luftdaten, 2021) environmental European cities developers, non- monitoring air quality create digital stakeholder
resilience through profit organization solutions for more discussion about
community-driven, democratic ambient air
open participation and quality standards.
environmental data. open knowledge.
AirKit (Sense, 2021) To develop an air UK Academia, Monitoring site Citizen data is used Allowing citizens
quality monitoring citizens, local selection, sensor for creating data to communicate
framework that fosters governing bodies installation, stories that provide data to decision-
open processes of monitoring air context and makers and
research co-creation pollution incidents meaning to the propose actions.
and environmental data by adding
action. observations.

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children, pregnant women, and elderly people (Landrigan et al.,
2018). Most of the countries in the region suffer from poor air
quality due to different reasons such as high rates of urbanization,
increase in the use of motor vehicles, and industry development
(Cepeda et al., 2017; Gulia et al., 2015). Mexico has seen a serious
deterioration of air quality in recent years due to transport-related
pollution and wildfires (Bel and Holst, 2018; Son et al., 2018).
Countries like Chile experience high levels of particulate matter
due to extensive use of wood for cooking and heating (Paarde-
kooper et al., 2020; Tagle et al., 2020). One of 104 cities mon-
itoring PM 10 and 9 of 57 cities monitoring PM2.5 meet WHO
guidelines (Riojas-Rodriguez et al., 2016). Moreover, only 16 of 58
cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants report air pollution
measures. 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean
(LAC) have air quality networks, but these networks cover only
20% of the total LAC population (Riojas-Rodriguez et al., 2016).
Responding to this, several Citizen Sensing projects across the
region are trying to address the problem of air pollution and poor
air pollution monitoring (Valencia and Fonseca, 2019). Table 4
summarizes some of the major CS initiatives across different
regions in Latin America. Most of the initiatives consist of col-
laborative frameworks that bring together the efforts of local,
regional, and national administrations to improve air quality. In
Colombia, the government-run initiative Ciudadanos Científicos
aims at raising awareness about air quality while improving the
information about the distribution of air pollution (Hoyos et al.,
2020; SIATA, 2021). Citizen scientists do not participate in design
but are involved in data collection and receive feedback from the
project. Data collected is open access and it has been included in
scientific studies about the effects of fireworks on particulate
matter concentrations in Medellin and its Metropolitan Area
(Hoyos et al., 2020). Other CS projects like CanAirIO (CanAirIO,
2021) and Unloquer (Valencia and Fonseca, 2019) are examples
of bottom-up, autonomous, civil initiatives that are building
citizen networks across cities in Colombia to foster multi-
stakeholder partnerships and create fine-grained air quality
datasets for decision making. Citizen collectives like these are
already creating impact at the local levels allowing communities
to initiate interactions with decision-makers (Valencia and
Fonseca, 2019). CanAirIO has also participated in MeCAB, a
citizen initiative that promotes air quality governance and aims at
influencing Bogota’s local authorities (MeCAB, 2022). Similarly,
there are collaborative initiatives like Redspira (2018) in Mexico
and OpenSeneca (2019) in Argentina that are using crowdsour-
cing methods to generate air quality data that is used by the local
governments for shaping policies. Various projects, including
Canario and Unloquer from Colombia and Open-Seneca from
Argentina, have developed diverse channels for co-creation, such
as participatory workshops for sensor design and assembly and
citizen workshops for designing scenarios for pollution
monitoring.
Redspira has been successful in creating collaboration agree-
ments with the Mexicali City Council as well as the Baja
California Ministry of Health for joint actions to measure and
improve the air quality6. Similarly, OpenSeneca has been
collaborating with the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable
Development and the Buenos Aires city government to
strengthen the collaboration for scaling the CS project across
Argentina7.
The CS projects are mainly focused on complementing
traditional monitoring networks by creating citizen-sensing
networks. In several aspects, they are linked to social innovation
where they bring together students, maker groups, and local
stakeholders to use DIY tools to create low-cost air quality
sensing solutions. Although trust and acceptability of citizen-
generated air quality have grown, several challenges remain,
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particularly the institutionalization and adoption of CS initiatives
by government bodies and incorporation of the citizen-generated
data into national policies.
Summary. In the section “Insights from geographical perspec-
tives”, we explored several CS projects to understand how they
discuss several interlinked elements that are crucial for creating a
successful CS project, namely citizen engagement, approach to
data, and science–policy–society interface. While community
engagement in co-creation and data collection activities is pro-
minent in most of the projects, the actual impact on policies has
been limited. Other barriers to CS include issues related to
technology complexity, limited interaction among key stake-
holders, and lack of appreciation from the decision-makers.
We note that the relationship between scientists, decision-
makers, and citizens can be a complex one. However, CS can be
considered as a way to tap into citizen experiences and knowledge
that can play a significant role in improving the policy-making
process (as highlighted in several projects like AirBox, Curious-
Noses, Redspira, and OpenSeneca).
Discussion
As discussed in the section “Insights from geographical per-
spectives”, CS has been widely adopted in several countries to
tackle the problem of air pollution. The current CS practices are
already addressing challenges related to engagement, data, trust,
and reliability. However, there are some concerns related to
technological barriers and official endorsement of CS as well as
citizen-generated data that need to be addressed to realize the full
potential of CS. None of these concerns are insurmountable; with
careful planning and selection of the right methods and inter-
ventions, they can all be overcome.
In this section, we discuss how CS initiatives can benefit from
using open and secure technologies that not only allow the citi-
zens to monitor the environment but also enable them to achieve
citizenship. We also discuss how integrating a well-designed CS
framework with the decision-making process can facilitate
widespread participation and promote trust between key
stakeholders.
From data intelligence to civic intelligence. Citizen-generated
data is now widely used to advance science and can potentially be
applied to help shape policies. So far, this potential is not fully
realized. This is probably in part due to the complexity of the
technological solutions and lack of information about data and
privacy, which acts as a barrier to participation in CS programs.
As discussed by Turbé et al. (2019), ease of engagement remains
one of the strong predictors for successfully providing policy
evidence. Most of the CS projects in the area of environmental
monitoring rely heavily on the advancement in the field of
information and communication technology (ICT). A wide range
of technological solutions is used for data collection, knowledge
sharing, data visualization, analysis, and dissemination (Newman
et al., 2010). CS air quality monitoring projects usually use low-
cost and low-power IoT devices to gather air quality data and
different statistical methods and machine learning approaches to
interpret and analyze that data. Different web platforms and
dashboards are created for proposing local interventions, but the
technologies are generally designed for a well-informed “global
user” (Pritchard and Gabrys, 2016). It is generally assumed that
the person undertaking air quality monitoring is likely to have
good technical knowledge about different computing technolo-
gies. However, this is not always the case. More technology-
oriented solutions in CS do not always guarantee more civic
engagement and better data quality. For example, the use of
11
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Table 4 Summary of key citizen-based air quality monitoring projects in Latin America.

Project Aim of the project Location Initiators Community tasks Approach Science–policy–society
to data interface
Redspira (2018) To develop a system Mexico Citizens Crowdsourcing air Open data Strengthening air pollution
that combines citizen quality data platform to share monitoring in Mexicali by
data and official data with creating citizen sensing
environmental data to multiple networks to support
create a collaborative stakeholders. regulatory monitoring
air quality monitoring Data is used for infrastructure.
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network. local government

to support
policymaking
Open-Seneca To empower citizens Argentina Academia, Crowdsourcing air Validated data is Using collective intelligence to
(2019) with air pollution data research quality data by used to promote find pollution hotspots and
to raise awareness, institutes, maker mounting air quality behavioral raise awareness.
promote behavioral groups, non- monitoring devices change and Collaborating with the
change, and inform profit on bikes inform decision- government to scale the CS
policymakers on organizations makers. project across the country.
environmental issues.
Unloquer To raise awareness Colombia Citizens Crowdsourcing air Data is not Allowing the community to
(Valencia and about local air quality quality data validated before participate in data collection
Fonseca, 2019) and empower citizens streaming. and engage in addressing local
in making informed Open data air quality problems.
choices. platform to share
data with
multiple
stakeholders.
Citizen Science To raise awareness Colombia Local Crowdsourcing air Real-time data is Allowing the community to
(Ciudadanos about local air quality government quality data displayed online, participate in data collection
Científicos) and empower citizens validated data is and engage in local air quality
(Hoyos et al., to make data- shared with problems.
2020) informed decisions. multiple Supporting local governments
stakeholders. with air quality data to support
policymaking during pollution
episodes.
CanAirIO (2021) To build a citizen Colombia Citizens Assembling Data is not Creating an inclusive
network that maps air monitoring devices, validated before environment for promoting
pollution using low- tracking air pollution streaming. citizen participation in air
cost sensors and episodes. Open data pollution monitoring.
promotes awareness. platform to share Advocating for putting the
data with topic of air quality on the local
multiple political agenda.
stakeholders.

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Aire Envigado To raise awareness Colombia Citizens Setting up monitoring Open data Allowing the community to
(Metropol about local air quality devices platform to share participate in data collection
Colombia, n.d.) using DIY monitoring data with and engage in addressing
devices. multiple Envigado’s air quality
stakeholders. problems.
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Box 2 | Understanding intelligence

There are different concepts of intelligence, which we would like to clarify in the following:
● Human intelligence: The ability to reason, think critically, adapt and learn from experience.
● Emotional intelligence: The ability to use emotional information to adjust to social contexts and master social interactions successfully.
● Artificial intelligence: The ability of machines to simulate aspects of human intelligence and perform human-like actions based on Big Data and
Machine Learning approaches.
● Collective intelligence: The ability to jointly generate solutions that are better than individual solutions. (When applied to animals, one often speaks
of Swarm Intelligence.)
● Civic intelligence: The ability of people to collaborate and work collectively towards addressing civic goals. This typically involves collective
intelligence.
● Hybrid/Synergistic Intelligence: The ability to augment intelligence by creating symbiotic interactions between humans and machines.
Civic Intelligence obviously builds on Human Intelligence, but considers cooperative and social aspects, and makes use of Emotional Intelligence, too. As
the concept of ‘Hybrid’ or ‘Synergistic Intelligence’ shows, it may be supported and extended by the use of Artificial Intelligence.

Fig. 3 Understanding how human-centric solutions can promote civic intelligence. Digital literacy and citizen engagement can be improved by using
open-source and ethical technological frameworks.

machine learning algorithms and advanced artificial intelligence
(AI) tools can improve data management and interpretation, but
these algorithms are often black boxes. It is important to look for
solutions that are explainable, interpretable, and transparent
(Franzen et al., 2021). The definition of different types of intel-
ligence is outlined in Box 2. It is clear that there is a need for a
synergy between AI and civic intelligence that allows people to
make better decisions and helps them to reach collective intelli-
gence at scale. High-level technological solutions can promote
data intelligence, but for promoting collective intelligence more
human-centric solutions must be developed and used. In Fig. 3,
we show how human-centric technological solutions can promote
“civic intelligence”, thereby promoting the efficient use of tech-
nology and enhancing digital literacy. Attention must be given to
implementing open-source solutions that are ethical and safe-
guard human rights (Helbing et al., 2021; Pournaras et al., 2017).
As citizen scientists are mostly volunteers who are willing to
contribute to science and society by giving their time and data, it
should be a priority to use ethical technological frameworks that
promote digital democracy and safeguard personal data. Not only
would it build trust between citizen scientists and other stake-
holders, but it would also promote meaningful engagement and
data collection.
Co-creating evidence to help shape better policy. The process of
policymaking is an adaptive multi-step process that includes
problem identification, policy formulation, adoption, imple-
mentation, and evaluation. Policy formulation is one of the key
steps of the policymaking process and it involves collecting and
using evidence. Policymakers tend to interpret evidence as either
scientific evidence or non-scientific evidence (Lomas, 2005).
Although citizen-generated data presents unprecedented oppor-
tunities to increase knowledge sharing, collaboration, and data
democratization; recognition of such data as legitimate scientific
evidence remains an issue (Burgess et al., 2017). To address this
challenge and find effective ways of using citizen-generated data

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Fig. 4 Evidence co-creation framework. The proposed framework is an iterative process for creating evidence using citizen-generated data.

Fig. 5 Integration of the ECF within the policy-making process. Citizen-generated data obtained from the ECF is merged with official data to form the new
evidence, which is then discussed, analyzed, and evaluated before policy formulation.

as evidence for policy purposes, we have proposed the Evidence
Co-creation Framework (ECF). Figure 4 shows the ECF which is
an iterative process for creating evidence using citizen-generated
data. It has several interconnected components.
Mapping. This step identifies the problem and key stakeholders.
The empathy mapping exercise is used to involve everyone and
gain insights into the target group. The exercise leverages beha-
vioral insights that are likely to improve the policy formulation
process as it allows the decision-makers to prioritize problems
based on the opinion of the citizens.
Sensing. This step allows the key stakeholders to co-define data
standards and co-design data collection campaigns. Ethical issues
related to informed consent and data ownership are discussed.
Citizens are made aware of necessary protocols of confidentiality
and anonymity that are followed as part of the process of data
collection and curation.
Analysis. This step includes data processing and analysis using
scientific standards. Data is checked for outliers and necessary
steps are followed for creating a usable dataset. It is followed by
data validation where the data is checked for reliability by com-
paring it with standards set by regulatory bodies.
Sharing. Sharing is particularly a key step of the ECF. The process
of data sensing and analysis often results in large datasets that are
not easy to interpret. It is imperative to translate and commu-
nicate the data in a way that is easier for everyone to understand.
Interactive visualizations and digital tools can be used to share the
evidence and receive feedback from multiple stakeholders. The
feedback mechanism is also valuable as it allows stakeholders to
critically analyze the framework and the outputs, and provide
suggestions for improvement.
The ECF is then integrated within the policy-making process,
as illustrated in Fig. 5. It complements the official data that is used
as evidence before formulating a policy. The official data is

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combined with the data obtained from the ECF followed by
deliberation, analysis, and evaluation. This includes discussion
and debate over the evidence and evaluation, to check if the
evidence meets the scientific standards. This step can include
several iterations before the official formulation is done.
Integrating citizen data within policymaking is a complex process
and it is not possible to comment on the impact our methodology
would have, as in most of the countries, issues related to air
quality and citizen involvement are politically charged. Never-
theless, combining participation, multiple stakeholder delibera-
tion, and scientific analysis has shown positive results in other
challenging areas, like water sustainability (Garrick et al., 2017).
Engaging people with the policy process could have a significant
impact as it would make policies more understandable and
acceptable.
Conclusion
CS coupled with participatory sensing has created a new para-
digm of civic intelligence where communities engage in colla-
borative ways to monitor their surroundings. As compared to the
conventional methods in which the interactions with commu-
nities and decision-makers are limited, citizen sensing has
emerged as a useful tool that can bridge the gap between people
and policymakers by opening up possibilities of co-creation and
collective decision-making. The use of CS in air quality mon-
itoring is growing, and so too is the quality of the data. But, such
data so far is seldom used for policymaking. The main reason for
this is the lack of a clear methodology to translate citizen-
generated data into evidence that can be used by policymakers in
decision-making.
This review examined how key CS air quality monitoring
initiatives across Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America are
opening up spaces for interaction between community members
and decision-makers. Through a comparison of different CS pro-
jects and the methods used by them, this review sheds light on how
these projects are generating evidence that has the potential to
influence air quality governance. It was observed that most of the
projects significantly focused on generating scientifically valid data
that could complement the traditional air quality monitoring net-
works while a limited number of the projects showed visible policy
impact. Furthermore, the review of CS projects revealed some key
barriers, including technology complexity, limited interaction
between key stakeholders, and the lack of appreciation from
decision-makers. To address this, we have discussed how reducing
technological complexity and promoting the efficient use of tech-
nology can promote meaningful engagement, build trust between
key stakeholders, and promote collective intelligence. We have also
proposed the ECF, which is an iterative process for creating evi-
dence using citizen-generated data. The ECF aims to create an open
and transparent process that helps in evidence co-creation and
fosters multiple stakeholder partnerships. It allows data collection
activities to be designed in cooperation with the communities to
have a bigger socio-political impact.
Even though we have addressed issues related to air quality,
our approach can theoretically be applied to other CS practices
that leverage citizen-generated data. As we highlight in this
review, transparency, openness, and active community partici-
pation could potentially remove the barriers between society,
science, and policy. It could add credibility and legitimacy to the
evidence used for making policy decisions making it more
acceptable among a wider array of key stakeholders.
We performed a comprehensive search of literature that
addresses the issue of air quality, CS, and policymaking. One lim-
itation of this study may be that some of the references could have
been omitted because they were not indexed in the WoS database.
HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES COMMUNICATIONS | (2022)9:122 | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01135-2
REVIEW ARTICLE
To perform a detailed review, we did not restrict our search to
academic publications; rather, we investigated several grassroots
and collaborative projects that don’t appear in the literature but
have well-documented online resources. Although the number of
such projects is limited, these projects provide valuable insights that
can be used by researchers and practitioners to develop future CS
initiatives to address the issue of air pollution.
Data availability
Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no datasets were
generated or analyzed during the current study.
Received: 19 July 2021; Accepted: 21 March 2022;
Notes
1 https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/basic-search
2 AND retrieves all documents that contain both the terms. * is a search function that
looks for words with multiple endings. Example: “Policy*” will look for words like
policy making, policy analysis, etc.
3 For analysis, the bibliometrix package in R was used (Aria and Cuccurullo, 2017).
4 https://www.government.nl/topics/active-citizens/citizen-participation
5 https://www.eufje.org/images/docConf/visio2020/REPORT_BELGIUM.pdf
6 https://www.redspira.org/index.php/vinculacion
7 https://acceleratorlabs.undp.org/content/acceleratorlabs/en/home/our-work/Climate-
change-air-pollution-UNDP-COP26-Climate-Promise-Environment-Green-
Renewable-Sustainability-SDGs.html
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Acknowledgements
SM and DH acknowledge support through the project “CoCi: Co-Evolving City Life”,
which has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the
European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agree-
ment No. 833168. DH also thanks for the opportunities offered by the Citizen Science
Center Zurich, https://citizenscience.ch/en/. MC and LC acknowledge support by the
Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan under the grant: MOST 110-2811-E-001-
501-MY3. JM acknowledges that this research was part-funded by the Colombian
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Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
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